Dawid Kubacki has secured his place in Polish sporting history by becoming the third Polish ski jumper to win the coveted Four Hills ski jumping tournament held in Germany and Austria.
He won the final contest in Bischofshofen by jumping the furthest in both rounds (142 and 140.5 meters). He beat both Norwegian Marius Lindvik and German Karl Geiger to take the Four Hills crown.
The Pole had been in the lead in the whole tournament before Monday’s competition, having come third in two of the contests and second in the last one in Innsbruck. But on Monday he won convincingly and increased his lead over both Lindvik and Geiger.
Kubacki’s triumph is his first in the Four Hills tournament. Adam Małysz (2001) and Kamil Stoch (2017 and 2018) were the other legendary ski jumpers to succeed in taking the Four Hills crown.
As Monday was the holiday of Three Kings Day in Poland, President Andrzej Duda congratulated Dawid Kubacki and referred to him and two other Polish legendary ski jumpers, Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch, as the Polish “Three Kings” of the Four Hills Tournament:
Polscy „Trzej Królowie” TCS. Jeszcze raz DZIĘKUJEMY! pic.twitter.com/1eYSsVNrdK
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) January 6, 2020
Ski jumping as the Polish national sport
Dawid Kubacki’s success marks another milestone in the 21st-century history of Polish ski jumping, which is extremely popular in Poland.
Adam Małysz began the run of success by winning the Four Hills, several world championship gold medals and world cups (awarded for winning most points in a season), as well as four Olympic medals, three silver and one bronze.
But his record was bettered by Kamil Stoch who has now won three Olympic gold medals, two Four Hill tournaments as well as world championship gold medals and world cups to boot.
Moreover, the ski jumping team made up of four jumpers, managed to win a world championship title as well as other Olympic and World Championship medals, and one world cup title over the whole season.
Ski jumping has, as a result, become one of the most popular sports in Poland, with millions watching competitions on public TV. The Polish ski jumpers on the team are now household names in Poland.
